


Taking Care: Sick and Tired

by small_town_girl



Category: Glee
Genre: Caretaking, Comfort, Family, Friendship, Gen, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-14
Updated: 2011-04-14
Packaged: 2017-10-18 01:52:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/183668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/small_town_girl/pseuds/small_town_girl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the Glee Fluff Meme: 5 times Kurt took care of a sick/hurt Finn and 1 time Finn took care of a sick/hurt Kurt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taking Care: Sick and Tired

1\. Pain in the Head

Kurt wasn’t surprised at the silence that greeted him when he got home. His dad and Carole had gone to Columbus for the weekend to meet up with some friends of Carole’s, who she’d been eager to introduce to Burt and Finn had basketball practice with plans to eat out with some team mates. He should have the house to himself for about two more hours before Finn came charging through the front door.

He was on his way upstairs to put away his schoolbooks and get out of his uniform when he almost tripped over Finn’s gym bag. His first reaction was, predictably, annoyance at his stepbrother and he cursed as he tossed the bag out of the way. Finn knew better than to leave his stuff laying around the house and when he got from practice, Kurt planned to give him an earful. If he had tripped he could have bruised his face and Finn really had no appreciation of how long it would take him to cover it up.

Wait. If Finn’s bag was at the bottom of the stairs, the same bag he would have taken with him for basketball practice, then where was Finn? No one had called or texted Kurt to let him know of a change in plans. Had Finn gone with their parents at the last minute? No, Kurt decided, his dad would never leave him home alone for the weekend. It had taken Carole long enough to convince him to let both boys stay home together.

It couldn’t be that Finn was skipping practice either. He took any kind of practice, whether it be for sports or for Glee, very seriously and that was before he started dating Rachel. Maybe practice had ended early and Finn had come home to drop off his stuff before going out with his team mates. That was probably exactly what happened.

Kurt changed out of his uniform and into a pair of jeans and his favourite sweater. It was white, knee-length, and the warmest thing he owned, not to mention very comfortable. He had plans to make himself a nice, healthy supper then catch up on some DVR’d episodes of Project Runway before Finn got home. Those plans were immediately put on hold when he heard a thud then a groan come from Finn’s bedroom.

“Finn?” he asked as he pushed the door open. It better be Finn because Kurt didn’t want to think about who else could be in their house.

He heaved a sigh of relief when he found his stepbrother lying on his bed, seemingly asleep. The lights were all off, the curtains drawn so no sunlight was peeking into the room, and even Finn’s alarm clock was unplugged. The only source of light was from the hallway now that Kurt had the bedroom door open.

“Light off please,” Finn whispered and Kurt quickly shut the door as quietly as he could.

“Headache?” Kurt kept his voice soft as he walked toward the bed. He somehow managed to make it without tripping over anything Finn might have had laying on the floor.

“Yes,” Finn replied. “Hurts.”

Kurt winced in sympathy. He’d had exactly one bad headache in his life, brought on by spending too many consecutive hours on his computer while doing research for a school project, and he wasn’t eager to repeat the experience. He’d rather get tossed in the dumpster every day for the rest of his life. At least with the dumpster he could climb out and go right to class; the headache had had him in bed all day because the Aspirin made him tired.

“Did you take anything for it?”

“Couldn’t find it,” Finn told him. Kurt could even hear the pain in Finn’s voice.

“I’ll bring you some stuff that will help,” Kurt promised and, as quietly as he could, backed out of the room. He got the Aspirin out of the medicine cabinet, a towel, soaked a couple of facecloths with cool water, and filled Finn’s bathroom cup with water then quietly returned to Finn’s room, somehow juggling everything without spilling or dropping anything. His experience with juggling multiple shopping bags was actually useful and Kurt planned on telling his father when he got home. “Can you sit up for a second?” he asked Finn.

As Finn struggled to sit up, Kurt set everything down on Finn’s bedside table. He handed his stepbrother two Aspirin and the glass of water, watching as Finn obediently swallowed. Kurt then laid the towel down on Finn’s pillow and got the other boy to lie back down, slipping one cool cloth behind Finn’s neck and placing the second over his forehead. It was what his dad always did when he got a bad headache and it seemed to help him.

“Try to sleep,” Kurt told him quietly. “I’ll come check on you later.”

“Thanks Kurt.”

Kurt just gently patted Finn’s leg in response before retreating from the room. He’d make himself supper then check on his stepbrother to make sure Finn was asleep then later, when Finn woke, he’d try to get him to eat something. He was a little surprised at how naturally taking care of his stepbrother came to him but, having heard all the stories from Carole at how often Finn was sick or hurt, decided it could be a good thing.

 

2\. Hot, Hot Heat

Saturday night was date night; at least it was for half of the Hudson-Hummel household. The two adults went out to dinner and a movie while the two teenagers were stuck home while all their friends were also out on dates or busy with other plans. Normally Kurt and Finn being home alone was no big deal but with each boy in a bad mood over their love life situations, both boys were doing their best to stay out of the other’s way.

Kurt was in the living room watching Grey’s Anatomy and Finn was upstairs in his bedroom playing some violent video game that had zero appeal to Kurt. Realistic graphics or not, Kurt would rather watch a show that was bloody because someone was trying to help save a life than a game where he was trying to kill people. Finn kept insisting it was a great way to relieve stress but Kurt just ignored him.

Footsteps on the stairs signalled to Kurt that Finn was on his way down but his stepbrother never came into the living room. There was banging coming from the kitchen a few seconds later so Kurt assumed Finn got hungry. There was lots of leftover food in the fridge and some frozen pizzas in the freezer so even Finn could manage to find something to eat without help.

The huge crash and Finn’s loud cursing was something Kurt wasn’t expecting. He jumped to his feet, his heart pounding as he ran toward the kitchen.

“What happened?”

Kurt really didn’t need to ask that question. He could see that obviously Finn had somehow managed to burn his hand so he turned on the cold water and ordered Finn to stick his hand under it.

“Keep your hand under there,” Kurt said sternly. He had more than enough experience with burns from working with his dad at the garage; he could probably treat a minor burn in his sleep. “Why were you using the stove anyway?”

“It’s confusing,” Finn frowned and glared at the offending appliance. “I wanted to turn on the oven to cook my pizza but I guess I turned on the top part because when I put my hand on it, this happened.”

“Finn Hudson, you are never supposed to touch the burners unless you’re sure they’re off and you’re cleaning them,” Kurt busied himself with cleaning up the dropped pizza and turning off the stove, keeping an eye on Finn to make sure he kept his hand under the cool water. The pained, guilty look on his stepbrother’s face softened Kurt and he moved closer so he could put a hand on Finn’s arm. “It’s not that bad. It’ll hurt for a while then it’ll just be annoying until it finally goes away.”

Finn nodded but didn’t look convinced. Kurt knew it was important to keep him calm, that even the simplest of injuries could be worsened if the victim went into shock, and Finn did have a tendency to easily panic. The boy could handle anything on television but when it came to real life Finn hated blood and even minor injuries like burns and bruises made him uncomfortable.

“I was gonna eat that,” Finn said after Kurt threw the pizza in the garbage.

“It was on the floor Finn,” Kurt rolled his eyes while he back his back to Finn. “I’ll make another one after we treat your burn. Keep your hand under the water. I’m going to get some things that we‘re going to need.”

Kurt hurried up the stairs so he could grab one of his dad’s bandages and the Aspirin then returned to the kitchen. Finn hadn’t moved a muscle.

“Alright, sit at the table,” Kurt instructed. He turned off the water and grabbed a clean dishtowel so he could pat dry Finn’s hand, being careful not to aggravate the burn. It didn’t look to bad, no blisters but it was on the palm of the hand and at the very least would be annoying every time Finn closed his fist. “I’m going to wrap your hand and you’re going to have to do your best to remember not to use this hand, okay?”

Finn nodded and the trust in his eyes slightly unnerved Kurt. He wasn’t used to anyone but his father looking at him that way.

“Take these,” Kurt handed him two Aspirin and got him a glass of water. “Then go watch TV and I’ll put another pizza in the oven. And don’t use that hand.”

“You’re really smart Kurt,” Finn said before he disappeared down the hall.

Kurt was left with a warm, satisfied feeling as he stuck Finn’s pizza in the oven.

 

3\. Slip and Slide

There wasn’t much that could get Kurt out of bed before noon on a Saturday morning, especially one where he had the house to himself. Carole was working the weekend, his dad had gone to the garage to catch up on paperwork, and Finn had plans with some of the Glee guys to play basketball at the park. He’d invited Kurt along last night but Kurt had declined. He was pretty sure Finn hadn’t expected him to accept but his stepbrother always made sure to let Kurt know he was invited.

His cell phone beeped but he ignored it. It was still to early to get up and if he answered, he’d most likely get stuck in an epic text conversation with either Mercedes or Blaine. He’d text whoever it was back later, at a more decent time to be out of bed.

The house phone started ringing at the same time as the doorbell rang. Kurt cursed and rolled out of bed, snagging his cordless on his way out of his bedroom.

“Hello.”

“’sup Hummel?” Puck’s voice filtered through the phone and Kurt groaned. Puck was supposed to be at the park with Finn and the other guys not calling him before noon on a Saturday. “Get your ass out of bed and come open the door. Finn forgot his key.”

Kurt was already at the foot of the stairs by the time Puck finished talking so it was only a few more steps to the front door. He supposed it really shouldn’t have surprised him to find Puck and Sam supporting Finn between them, effectively keeping all weight off Finn’s left ankle. Kurt stepped back to allow them to help Finn into the living room and on to the couch then they both just left.

“Rude,” Kurt murmured under his breath. He closed the door behind them then went into the living room to find out exactly what had happened to his stepbrother. “You want to tell me what happened?”

“It rained this morning,” Finn said and for once Kurt was the one who was confused. That statement told Kurt absolutely nothing about how Finn was wincing in pain or why he’d needed Puck and Sam to practically carry him into the house. “The grass was still wet and we were running. Puck slipped and grabbed my arm but we both ended up on the ground. I twisted my ankle.”

“That explains the grass stains on Puck’s jeans,” Kurt remarked, mostly to himself. He wouldn’t have put it passed Puck to claim the stains were purposely done to make his jeans more ‘badass’. “Let me see your ankle.”

Finn sat up and tried to reach down to take off his sneaker. Kurt stopped him. He had an idea that it wasn’t just a simple twisted ankle just from the pain visible on Finn’s face and he didn’t want Finn to hurt himself more by further by aggravating the ankle. Kurt unlaced Finn’s show and gently slid it off his foot, letting it drop to the floor, then he pushed up the leg of Finn’s pants.

“It’s already swelling,” Kurt told him and he felt his own ankle throb with sympathy pain. “You’ll be spending the day on the couch. I’m going to get some ice to keep the swelling down.”

Kurt slid a pillow under Finn’s ankle before he left, remembering from the first aid class he’d taken last year to keep the ankle elevated. He also handed Finn the remote so his stepbrother wouldn’t try to reach it on the coffee table. Knowing Finn, he’d somehow fall off the couch and hurt himself even worse.

Before the wedding his father always kept one ice pack in the freezer for just-in-case accidents that had never happened. A month after the wedding and their ice pack collection had tripled. It wasn’t that Finn was clumsy, his lack of coordination seemed limited to dancing, but the boy was a magnet for injuries. Like today, it wasn’t Finn who fell but he happened to be the person closest to Puck when Puck fell.

He got two ice packs from the freezer, a couple of clean dishtowels, and a bottle of water. He’d have to go upstairs to get the Advil.

“Alright Finn Hudson,” Kurt smiled as he walked back into the living room, “let’s get that ankle taken care of.”

“How do you know what to do?” Finn asked.

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Kurt replied, wrapping the towels around the ice packs then wrapping those around Finn’s ankle. “Dumpster dives and locker slams are great for learning first aid.”

It was meant as a joke but guilt crossed Finn’s face anyway. “Hey,” Kurt frowned and gently tapped Finn on the knee to make sure he had his stepbrother’s attention. “It’s in the past. We agreed.”

“Right,” Finn nodded but Kurt could tell he’d still be thinking about it for the rest of the afternoon. At least until the Advil put him to sleep. For such a tall boy Finn had a low tolerance for medicine, which explained his reaction to the vitamin D.

“I’m going to get the Advil,” Kurt stood then adjusted the ice packs. “This should help until your mom gets home. She might think a visit to the hospital in required.”

Kurt left the room to the sound of Finn’s loud groan.

 

4\. F to the L to the U Eww Eww

Kurt was enjoying his day off school, with both his dad and Carole at work and Finn at McKinley. Dalton had the day off classes for an alumni event the school was hosting in order to secure some donations. The upperclassmen were required to stay at the school to help with the event but everyone else got to day off unless they’d been asked to stay by a teacher. Blaine had been one of the students asked to attend the event and honestly, Kurt wasn’t surprised. Blaine was good at charming adults.

He was in the middle of making himself a nice salad when his cell phone rang. He hadn’t been expecting a call so his salad dressing that he’d been so carefully pouring on the side ended up as a small pool on the counter. It was his dad. He should have known; his dad had the worst timing.

“Hey Dad.”

“Hey Kiddo,” his dad sounded distracted so Kurt immediately knew something was wrong. “Can you do me a huge favour?”

“Of course,” Kurt quickly agreed. Anything to take a little pressure off his dad. He hadn’t been planning on going to the garage but he definitely could put in a few hours if needed.

“Can you pick up Finn at school? The nurse called but neither Carole or I can get away right now to pick him up. I cleared it with the school so they’re expecting you.”

Kurt cleaned up his mess as his dad talked and stuck his salad in the fridge for when he got home. “I’m leaving right now.”

“Thanks Kurt.”

Kurt grabbed his jacket, locked the door behind him, then hopped into his Navigator. It was a short drive to the high school and an even shorter walk to the nurse’s office, a walk Kurt knew all too well from his morning dumpster dives. He found Finn lying on one of the beds with a grumpy-looking Santana sitting in a chair by his side.

“Finally,” she slammed her magazine closed and stood. “The nurse had an emergency and of course she remembered I once told her a lie about being a candy stripper so she told me to stay with Sicko McSick here. Stupid Puckerman never came in for his nap.”

“Thank you Santana,” Kurt just smiled. He had his doubts that her being a candy stripper was a lie; he’d seen her softer side and she was actually a good caretaker. “Ready to go home Finn?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t move him too fast or he’ll blow chunks on your shoes,” Santana warned before she disappeared out of the office.

“Good to know,” Kurt mused, mostly to himself. “Can you walk or should I find someone to carry you to the car?”

“I can walk,” Finn insisted but Kurt didn’t fully believe him. His stepbrother looked so pale and so weak that Kurt half expected Finn to just slide to the floor when he slowly got off the bed.

Kurt stayed as close as he could as Finn made the walk from the nurse’s office to where he’d parked the Navigator. If Finn was hit by a sudden weak spell, Kurt knew there was no hope of him catching his stepbrother before he hit the floor. Thankfully they made it out to the car without incident and soon Kurt was driving them home.

He watched Finn stagger through the house until he collapsed on the couch and he just stayed there. No one had told him what exactly was wrong with the other boy but from the looks of Finn, Kurt could take a pretty accurate guess that it was the flu.

“Did the nurse say anything?” Kurt asked as he felt Finn’s forehead. It felt a little warm but not enough to worry or warrant a hospital visit. Finn was still pale and Kurt could see his hands were shaking slightly.

“That she was calling my mom to come pick me up,” Finn actually nuzzled into Kurt’s hand and pouted when it was removed. Kurt knew he usually had cold hands so they must have felt good against Finn’s forehead.

“I’ll go get you a cold cloth for your head,” Kurt told him, patting Finn’s head gently before going upstairs to the bathroom. Along with wetting a cloth, he also grabbed the bottle of Gravol in case Finn was nauseous, and he detoured to the kitchen for a bucket and glass of Ginger Ale. The Gravol would hopefully put Finn to sleep until Carole got home. “Alright, can you sit up for a second?”

Finn did, slowly, and Kurt gave him one Gravol and the glass of Ginger Ale. He watched carefully to make sure his stepbrother didn’t just down the glass, as teenage boys were prone to do, then set the glass on the coffee table when Finn handed it to him. He had Finn lie back down and placed the cloth over Finn’s forehead, getting a contented sigh from the sick boy.

“Do you want to watch TV?” Kurt asked, reaching for the remote. He set it on the couch next to Finn so it was within arm’s reach. “I’ll be right back.”

Kurt went back into the kitchen to get his salad out of the fridge. He poured his dressing on the side, this time with no spills, grabbed a fork, and brought his lunch in to the living room so he could keep an eye on his stepbrother while he ate. Finn was already asleep when he got back so Kurt snagged the remote and settled in to watch some DVR’d Project Runway.

 

5\. Not So Common

Kurt was beginning to feel like Finn was purposely waiting until their parents weren’t home before he got sick. His stepbrother had been fighting a small cold for the better part of the week but it wasn’t anything that kept him out of school and by Friday he seemed to be getting better, so Kurt had insisted Carole and his dad go on their planned weekend trip to Columbus. Of course a few hours after they left Finn developed a slight fever.

Finn was currently buried under a pile of blankets on the couch but Kurt could still see him shivering, a result from his fever. Kurt really didn’t want to put another blanket on top of the pile in case the weight were to restrict Finn’s breathing so he was hoping the hot chicken noodle soup he’d made would help keep him warm.

“Alright, I have some soup for you and there’s lots if you want more,” Kurt said as he carried a bowl into the living room. He made sure Finn had a good grip on the bowl before letting go then he went back to the kitchen to get his own bowl. He’d made the soup himself so he controlled what had gone into it and it was so much better for him than canned soup.

“This is good,” Finn gave his approval with his lips wrapped around his spoon. Kurt just smiled at his stepbrother. At least Finn still had his appetite.

“Thanks,” Kurt was growing used to hearing Finn compliment his cooking but that didn’t mean he didn’t love hearing it. He’d been experimenting with spices to enhance the flavour so his dad wouldn’t dump half of the salt shaker on to his food and so far he liked to think he was successful. No one had been adding salt to any of his meals.

Once both he and Finn were finished, and after confirming that Finn didn’t want another bowl, Kurt brought their dishes into the kitchen and put them in the dishwasher. He could hear Finn having a coughing fit while he was cleaning but all he could do was wince in sympathy. Finn had taken some cold medication a little over an hour ago so he couldn’t give his stepbrother more medicine yet.

He could bring Finn a popsicle to help his sore throat. Finn had been complaining earlier that all the coughing was making his throat hurt and the lozenges Carole had bought weren’t doing their job.

“I brought you something for your throat,” Kurt held out half a purple popsicle to Finn, who accepted it with a huge smile. “Your mom bought a big box of them and they’re made with real fruit so they’re good for you.”

He didn’t think Finn really cared about the real fruit but Kurt did. Carole had remembered and had taken his distain for the sugar-loaded, artificially flavoured popsicles into consideration when buying them, which Kurt appreciated.

“Wanna watch a movie?” Kurt could barely make out what Finn was saying since his stepbrother currently had his popsicle halfway down his throat. A year ago he would have appreciated that sight so much more but thankfully his crush on the tall boy was long gone.

“Which one?” he asked. He got up and made his way over to the movie cabinet, not wanting Finn to attempt untangling himself from his blankets or risk popsicle juice getting dribbled on the carpet.

“You pick,” Finn replied. “It’s your turn.”

It was, Finn had picked the movie last weekend, but Kurt was surprised he’d remembered. Finn usually wasn’t good at remembering little things when he was taking medication.

Kurt browsed quickly through the movies, though he pretty much knew the selection by heart. He finally settled on the copy of Country Strong Blaine had burned for him, figuring he’d enjoy Garrett Hedlund, Finn would enjoy Gwyneth Paltrow, and they’d both enjoy the music.

“Do you need anything before the movie starts?” he asked Finn. He didn’t want to get five minutes into the movie and have to pause it because Finn decided he did need something.

“More Ginger Ale?”

“Sure,” Kurt agreed even though he knew Ginger Ale wouldn’t really do anything to help Finn get better. Finn, though, seemed to think the drink had some sort of healing power so Kurt was willing to indulge him if it kept his patient happy.

 

1\. The Reluctant Patient

Finn reached the front steps, out of breath but energized from his morning job. Both his mom’s and Burt’s cars were gone. His mom had picked up a weekend shift when one of her co-workers had a sudden family emergency and Burt had been talking about a deadline at the garage. Kurt had promised to help out but Finn knew his stepbrother was still asleep. No one was brave enough to wake Kurt before noon on a Saturday.

He stretched before going into the house and headed straight for the bathroom so he could shower. Saturdays were the best days for a shower since Burt and his mom took their showers before he woke up and there was plenty of hot water for when he got home from his run. He could take a long shower and not worry about using all the hot water and incurring Kurt’s anger since Kurt wouldn’t get out of bed for another two hours.

A half-hour later he stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped around his waist, and he made his way to his bedroom. He heard noises coming from Kurt’s room as he walked by and had to double-check his clock to make sure he hadn’t accidentally spend an hour in the shower. He quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and peeked into the hall, expecting to see Kurt waiting to yell at him for using all the hot water again.

“Kurt?” Finn frowned when he found the hallway empty. The bathroom door was still wide open so Finn knocked on Kurt’s door, quietly just in case Kurt had gone back to sleep.

“Come in,” he heard a voice croak. Someone was in Kurt’s room because no way was it Kurt who answered him. Maybe Blaine had snuck over and spent the night.

Finn opened the door, expecting to find Blaine in Kurt’s bed but instead he found Kurt sprawled out with his blankets kicked to the floor. Even from the doorway Finn could tell Kurt was covered in sweat band he kept making noises that sounded like he was in pain.

“Kurt, what’s wrong?” he asked and made his way into the room.

“Sick,” Kurt coughed. ‘Stupid Wes didn’t want to miss stupid practice and got his stupid germs on me so now I’m sick. Stupid Wes.”

“Dude, that sucks,” Finn said, reaching out to feel his stepbrother’s forehead but Kurt moved away from him. “Do you need anything?”

“No, I can get it,” Kurt told him, causing Finn to frown. Kurt had taken care of him so many times so Finn figured the least he could do was take care of Kurt now. “Go eat breakfast. But don’t cook anything.”

Finn grumbled but he left Kurt alone as he was asked. He grabbed a couple of granola bars from the kitchen and was halfway through his second when he heard a loud thump from upstairs. Dashing back upstairs, he found Kurt on the floor struggling to get back to his feet.

“What happened?”

“I tripped on the stupid blankets,” Kurt glared at the blankets as though they were at fault; they’d tripped him on purpose.

“Here,” Finn untangled Kurt from the blankets and threw them across the room then easily lifted Kurt to his feet, despite Kurt’s complaints. “What were you trying to do?”

“Go downstairs.”

Finn nodded and scooped Kurt up in his arms, carrying him down the stairs and to the living room couch. He gently set his stepbrother on the couch and handed Kurt the remote, as Kurt had done for him so many times. He continued to ignore Kurt’s protests as he went into the kitchen to get a bottle of water, giving it to Kurt as he passed the living room so he could get the Advil from the bathroom.

“Thanks,” Kurt said tiredly as he sat up to take two pills.

“Do you want anything else?” Finn asked, hovering over Kurt in case his stepbrother did need something.

“I’m just going to sleep,” Kurt replied and closed his eyes to prove his point.

“You call me if you need anything,” Finn said sternly and if Kurt had more energy he would have laughed at Finn’s attempt. Finn was really only intimidating when he was angry and it took a lot to get him that angry.

“I will,” Kurt promised.


End file.
